What a Police Ride-Along, with Nashville’s Finest, Taught Me About Leadership
Recently, I was in a police car. So that you aren’t concerned about criminal activity, let me back up and explain what led up to this encounter.
InteraWorks has teamed up with the Nashville Police and Public Safety Alliance (The Alliance) and Nashville Metro Police Department (MNPD) to design the first ASPIRE Leadership Institute. Recognizing I was interested in learning more about the business of policing, one of the Deputy Chiefs we are collaborating with suggested a ride-along with a patrol officer, which is why I was in the police car with Officer “C.”
I realize that not every citizen may have the opportunity to ride alongside an officer, so I’ll share what I experienced, heard, and observed while on patrol in South Nashville.
- Meeting people where they are goes a long, long way.
- The more context one provides, the more people understand. This is especially important if we must explain that we are not the right person to help them solve the issue at hand.
- Good advice from Officer “C”: practice your skills when you don’t need them so you can fall back on your training when you do need them.
- Being in a car together allows for many stories which reveal values and character. It was evident that his decision-making is driven by respect, teamwork, and being of service.
- He commented how one year under “misaligned” leadership was more stressful than two combat tours, while 2 months under leadership that engendered trust and respect motivated him to give more than was asked.
- He recognizes that neither he nor others listen or perform well under duress, so his responsibility is to be calm and compassionate, ensuring a positive and safe encounter.
- Many factors (besides the obvious) make being a patrol officer very difficult. Yet, the intrinsic desire to be of service drives officers to run into any situation, risking their own lives out of dedication and commitment to our safety and wellbeing.
“When I put this uniform on, I am saying that everyone else in the city of Nashville’s life is more important than mine.”
– Acts of Heroism video at www.thenashvillealliance.org
Witnessing the kindness, honor, and caring Officer “C” demonstrated to the citizens he chooses to serve, day after day, painted a refreshing image of the men and women who make up the business of policing. They are parents, neighbors, and friends, but they are also Leaders who demonstrate how to do so with humility and heart.
Author – Jennifer Wilmoth
InteraWorks Relationship Lead + Facilitator
About InteraWorks
InteraWorks is a global learning company on a mission to elevate the human experience at work. Specializing in professional development and performance enablement, we offer top-rated learning programs based on four defined conditions that must exist for individuals, teams including Effective Edge, Best Year Yet, and the Essentials series. Our integrated learning framework and online tools generate immediate and sustainable breakthroughs in performance. Through decades of working at all levels in enterprise companies across many industries, we’ve built a reputation for helping people and organizations harness their focus, mindset, talent, and energy to produce results that matter most.
We’ve defined four conditions that must exist for an individual, team, or organization to be effective within the arena of performance and development; Accountability, Focus, Alignment, and Integrity. We’ll continue to explore these and more in our blog and look forward to your engagement and interaction with us. Stay tuned as we engage the edges.